The subject matter herein relates generally to an electrical connector having signal conductors for transmitting differential signals between electrical components that are communicatively coupled through the electrical connector.
Networking and telecommunication systems use electrical connectors to interconnect different components of the systems. For example, the interconnected electrical components may be a motherboard and a daughter card. The electrical connectors are configured to transmit differential signals (e.g., data signals) through multiple signal conductors between the interconnected components. As speed and performance demands of the systems increase, however, conventional electrical connectors are proving to be insufficient. For example, signal loss and signal degradation are challenging issues for some electrical connectors. There is also a demand to increase the density of signal conductors to increase throughput. Moreover, there has been a general trend for smaller electrical devices, including smaller electrical connectors. Increasing the density of signal conductors while also decreasing the size of the electrical connectors, however, renders it more difficult to improve the speed and performance of the electrical connectors.
Another issue that may arise when developing an electrical connector is referred to as skew. Skew can occur when signal conductors of a common differential pair extend through the electrical connector with different path lengths. For instance, some right-angle connectors may be arranged “in-column” such that the two signal conductors of a conductor pair substantially coincide within a common plane. Due to the right-angle configuration and the in-column arrangement, the signal conductors have different physical path lengths. As such, the signals propagating through the two signal conductors have different distances to travel.
Different solutions to the skew problem have been proposed. Skew may be addressed outside of the electrical connector within one of the electrical components (e.g., circuit board) that the electrical connector engages. However, skew can also be addressed within the electrical connector. For example, the path of what would be the shorter signal conductor may be redirected to effectively increase the physical path length. Intentionally increasing the physical path lengths of the signal conductors, however, may increase the size of the electrical connector or lead to other challenges with respect to signal loss and degradation. As another example, some known connectors have used air trenches in which a portion of the signal conductor is exposed to air within the connector. Other connectors have used signal conductors that have “flags.” A flag is a portion of the signal conductor that has greater cross-sectional dimensions than another portion of the same signal conductor. However, it can be challenging to manufacture electrical connectors with air trenches or flags because even relatively small manufacturing tolerances can lead to a large change in skew.
Accordingly, there is a need for additional solutions for reducing or eliminating skew between signal conductors that are configured for differential signaling within an electrical connector.